the Good and the Bad [summer dramas 2011]

So which dramas are your favorite this season? I've put up the poll on the sidebar of this site and hopefully most of you have voted for your favs! The poll's closed and the winners are as such (only top 3 because I don't know what the other dramas are):

1. IS~ Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei - Fan favorite and to know why, scroll down to my opinions.
2. Zenkai Girl
3. Soredemo Ikite Yuku

Well...as to close the season's chapter, I've decided to write up a brief review of the dramas for the season by ranking them. Just like what I did for the previous season, and if you've read my post earlier on the season so far this is somewhat similar to it. Just a much more complete version and so let's see which ones make it to the top and which ones fall flat!

Well the ranking is according to my own taste and feelings for the dramas though, so it might differ from yours. Nevertheless, I'll try to be un-biased hehe...so here goes:

1. Soredemo Ikite Yuku - 9.5/10

Yup! This is by far one of the BEST Japanese dramas I've watched. Frankly, I didn't really expect much from it except for the fact that Eita is in it, which first prompted me to watch. But my my my...it totally blew me away with the writings, plot, acting and overall atmosphere. Eita definitely shines in this show, as well as his partner, Hikari Mitsushima who surprised me a lot with her acting skillz. Do not underestimate any of the characters and do not be fooled by the ratings the show gets throughout, because that do not do any justice at all for the show.  It's depressingly good so be prepared for few tissues in hand because you're gonna need them ( I did), but that's not all. The performances by both Eita and Hikari should be given much credit for making it so surreal, raw and engaging. You're immediately pulled into their world and you actually feel what they're going through. So if neither of them gets Best Actor or Actress in the TV awards soon, I'm definitely going to be really disappointed. They deserve a lot for their work on this show. Well, I'm not sure why the show's really underrated so far, as you can see from the poll itself, it's not really that popular among the viewers. Maybe it's the nature of the show being so depressing and filled with sorrow, it may not be everyone's cup of tea. And it just might be because I love serious themed dramas/movies. Nevertheless, I still highly recommend this because you get not only solid storyline, but remarkable acting from the fellow casts too. Look out for Eita's socks' mismatch lolz...

2. IS~ Otoko Demo Onna Demo Nai Sei - 9/10

I think it's obviously proven from the poll that this show's not just any ordinary drama. It definitely isn't as it deals with the topic of Intersexual (google up to know the term). IS is a topic not much explored, at least I haven't seen any other dramas recently about the topic. There might have been in the west, I'm not sure but for Japanese dramas as far as I know, this is the first one to explore the term in much detail. Just fyi, it's based on the manga with the same name. Do check it out guys, it's good. I find it's something unique and brave for the writers and also not forgetting the casts to work in this drama, bringing the characters in the manga to life. We should always remind ourselves that these characters may be fictional, but they do exist among us in the society. Plot-wise it's somewhat similar to the manga with additional mild changes. Moving on to performances, bravo to Fukuda Saki for making Haru so realistic, just by the way he walks and talks, all the subtle body languages, you'd never have known that Fukuda Saki was once the famous evil girl in school as Manami back in LIFE (for which she won Best Supporting Actress). Gouriki Ayame has her shining moments as well. IF you're looking for something different from the norm, not cliche, and most of all, an eye-opener for the ignorant society, do not miss this as I'm not sure if anything like this will come around again.

3. Zenkai Girl - 8.8/10

This seems to be really popular among viewers this season and I'm not denying the ratings it's been getting throughout. I can see why it's doing good. You have Aragaki Yui and Ryo who might have really supportive fans and it started off really strong with a solid plot and Wakaba (Aragaki Yui) is a really fun character to watch before it slowly goes down the drain toward the end. I may sound quite harsh here, but it's draggy-ness and the super annoying indecisiveness of the main characters really drives me to the wall at times and frankly, I did nearly lose interest halfway through. Not to mention the overused plot especially in the ending. However, despite all those weaknesses, it's still a decent show and has places where it shines. Things to look out for - the animations which is rather amusing, great child actors/actresses way beyond their age and hilarious comic moments.

4. Don Quixote  - 8.5/10

Initially, the first episode didn't amaze me as much as it's following episodes. This is a show with a simple plot (body exchanges) but involving a child welfare worker and a yakuza makes it all the more interesting. I really like Matsuda Shota in this. His constant outburst of harsh words with rough manners are really amusing to watch. Let's not forget his partner in crime, Takahashi Katsumi who really did a great job with his softie character lol. It's an episodic drama but their antics are worth watching as they'll definitely give you a really good laugh! This is the best comedy this season, so try this out for something to cheer you up.

5. Team Batista 3 & Zettai Reido 2  - 8/10

This is a tie because they're both in the same genre (well similar anyway). This is also actually my first Batista series so I can't compare this one with its predecessors, but I find myself really liking this 3rd one. It's a great suspense and I'm constantly wondering who's the real criminal when everyone's just so suspicious. As for ZR, this is the second season...though the first few episodes are kinda just there (because it's episodic), the second half of the show picks up better for me because things got more serious and thrilling toward the end. Aya's character is somehow pretty limited though, so I don't blame her for not being able to fully impress in the drama. However, this show gets higher ratings with an average of 13.02%.

6. Bull Doctor  - 8/10

This is actually the winner of the season with an average of 13.12% according to the TV ratings. However, in this ranking, I'm putting it here on the 6th spot because there's nothing much to shout about for this show. It's using forensics to solve cases but not entirely focused on it that I don't really learn much from it, and you'll hear preaching in almost every episode xD But it's not entirely bad or boring, because what amuses me most is actually the interaction or the chemistry between both main characters. That said, I don't actually mind if there's a 2nd season considering the high ratings it's getting.

Then, we have Jiu and Hi wa Mata Noboru as the ones that got into the list before we move onto the BAD. I wasn't planning on watching both of these, but then decided to just give them a try and surprisingly I finished them. So for a show that I actually finished, they're okay.

THE BAD

No ranking for this...but these are the ones that I lost interest halfway and didn't finish watching at all. Hanawake no Yonshimai in the first few episodes were quite good and appealing but since ep5 and 6, I totally lost interest and didn't bother continuing anymore. This is one of those that I actually don't care at all what happens to the characters, or how it''ll end. The characters are self-destructive and a lot of plot holes which just don't make sense. This is also the show that I found my most hated male character. I've never despised a character so much for such a long time! I can't give the name because guess what? I didn't even bother remembering his name. But he's easy to figure out if you've watched the show or read my reviews before. I find it a pity because the show's got this promising plot with several strong casts (the four sisters), but the writers decide to waste them.

Another one is the remake of HanaKimi - I gave up after only watching for 20 minutes. So go figure. Why remake something already sooo goood that is still etched on our minds? It would've worked fine if the remake's done in like...20-30 years time but not 5 years after the original. Well, that sums it all up really.

So this is my ranking for the season. Overall, it's got better offerings than the last for me. You've got some really brilliant works for example Soredemo Ikite Yuku and IS. Then for a good comedy you have Don Quixote and comedy+drama, you have Zenkai Girl. As for detective/mystery genre, you have the likes of Zettai Reido 2 and Team Batista 3. Here's to hoping the next season will be a good one too!

What do you think? Feel free to pour out your thoughts/opinions for this season!~

Hi wa Mata Noboru [7-9 Finale]

Didn't realize this drama's gonna be this short, but it's good though that they make it this way, because I really can't think of any plot left for them to do, unless they show the lives after graduation. But since it's just about their training period and about Tono-Anzai conflict, I'm glad they keep it simple and short.

To recap a bit, Tono finally makes contact with Anzai who asks to meet him. When they did, I actually thought that Tono would've come up with a backup plan to capture him there and then. But he doesn't and keeps his promise in meeting him alone. I think that would be his one and only mistake that led to the later events. But without that mistake, we wouldn't have the dramatic scenes in the last two episodes. Tono gives Anzai a day to think it over and call him when he is ready to go the police. However, what a coincidence for two patrol officers to question Natsumi who's waiting for Anzai to return from his meeting with Tono, nearby.

Seeing the police with Natsumi, Anzai goes berserk, again...and thinks that Tono betrays him. After beating the police up, he takes off with Natsumi, but one of the police takes out his pistol and opens fire. It hits Natsumi and with her injured, Anzai has no other choice but to bring her to the hospital. He escapes before the police comes. Now holding an unforgiving grudge against Tono, Anzai makes his move to the academy and takes all of his students as hostage.

Tono is informed and tries to persuade him. Anzai first tries to make Yuhara to shoot Tono but of course Yuhara isn't that stupid to kill a fellow police. With that attempt to kill Tono failed, Anzai decides to try another method to cause anguish to Tono. He asks him to shoot one of his students and he'll let the rest go. Tono takes the opportunity to give his students his final words and decides to finish it off between him and Anzai alone.The assault team then rush in and in the chaos, Tono is shot. Anzai is finally captured and the students live.

In the finale, Tono is rescued but his wife's condition gets worse and dies. With the death of his wife, Tono sinks into deep depression and voluntarily resigns. The students want him back for their graduation. But Tono refuses and on that very day, Minosawa makes an emotional call to ask him to come. Seriously, is that Minosawa crying?! It's hard to imagine how she's actually moved this much about having Tono back for the graduation ceremony, that's funny. But it works and Tono finally attends the ceremony, duhhh...

And they have this...crying session...


It's hilarious when everyone's all red eyes, but Tono's showing a very serious face. So Tono-ish...well at least, Miyata doesn't cry like a baby even though I half expected him to.


Overall thoughts:

Happy ending for all. Well, Tono lost his wife but that's for the best really. They can never get back with each other anyway since Natsumi's so attached to Anzai and with Anzai caught, I don't think she'll want to live either way. About Anzai, I don't really know what to say about him. He's got a dark past with police, and I understand why, but I don't pity him one bit. The way they portrayed him, I don't care about the character. The only one I really cared for is Tono basically. It's nice though to watch Minosawa change for the better after meeting Tono and that last statement she gives him..."You're the worst kyoukan" LOLz Tono happily thanks her for that.

Except for several episodes which I find a bit frustrating, especially those involving the immature students, the show's not that bad. Minosawa's character is rather annoying too in the beginning but towards the end, she's okay. I actually thought there might be some sparks between her and Tono, kinda disappointed no progress there. But it'd be very cliche if they did. So it's fine they keep it open-ended.

Overall rating: 7.5/10 - too bad Miyata's character isn't memorable and Tono's the only one saving the show

Hi wa Mata Noboru [ep 6]

After being disappointed to the max by ep 5's plot, I'm hoping this one will do better. 

Summary: The boys were trained in physical combat this time around and such a shame not one of them could even tackle Tono down. Meanwhile, the case continued from last week's cliffhanger when Natsumi were deliberately let to escape from the hospital. The police did so that they can lure Anzai out when Nastumi makes contact with him. Which happened just as they predicted when a local police found them both at the seaside.

However, Anzai managed to escape thanks to the lousy cop who couldn't even fight properly. Sighhh...Anzai gave him a blow in the head using a nearby branch and fled with Natsumi, and it all started all over again. The police lost him and diverted their attention to Tono instead.

Back at the academy, Minosawa asked the Chief regarding the cafe owner's husband who was a police officer, died on duty. The person who murdered him was Anzai Yuya, the man on the run with Natsumi, Tono's wife. However, the Chief insisted that she not tell Tono about it. This left her with a troubled heart.

Tono was then brought to the station for interrogation. He was seen by the boys being led into the police car, so they thought that he had done some crime. But the Assistant told them to not worry. At the interrogation room, Tono's friend couldn't get anything out of him regarding Tono's wife. Tono told him his wife never mentioned anything about Anzai before even though both Anzai and his wife were from the same hometown. Tono then recalled his first interrogation where his senior scolded him for being soft-hearted. He then endured 10 hours just to get the criminal's name and got him arrested. Now that he thinks back, he wondered if the man's family was victimized because of what he had done and that he probably wouldn't have committed suicide. 

"I was afraid to know the truth"- Tono

Tono confessed that he never asked his wife anything about Anzai and the same as Natsumi never mentioned him even once. Miyata questioned Yuhara whether he knew something about Tono's wife. Yuhara then told him that he overheard Tono speaking to the Assistant back in the mountains. Miyata, as usual, wondered if they could do anything to help, but Yuhara being the sensible one, said that they shouldn't pry into his private life issues. But Miyata disagreed because Tono's their Kyoukan.

And wow...what a change of heart for Minosawa lol. She met Tono who was leaving the police station.

She mentioned that she doesn't care what kind of trouble his wife had gotten herself into, but as Tono's Chief, she shall protect him. Tono then received a call from his assistant to meet at SUN for a report. After that, Minosawa found herself blabbering about how much she likes summer lol...Tono commented that it was rare to have her talking about things aside from work.

Tono found from the assistant that the boys were worried about him. The assistant then went on speaking of how he also wanted to be of any help to him. Suddenly, Minosawa appeared and joined them. I'm sure she was there deliberately to make sure Tono wouldn't find anything about the police officer who got murdered by Anzai. 

Miyata tried calling Tono about his sudden departure from class but Tono brushed him away saying he had no intention on telling them anything. The next day, interrogation lesson continued and Tono directed Miyata to act as the interrogator while he became the suspect. Tono ended up telling him the truth.


Tono arresting Anzai in the past, in front of Natsumi who is Anzai's childhood friend

Thoughts:

After an appaling previous episode, this one is such a delight to watch! It is definitely because of lesser screentime of the boys, and the focus on Tono's case. I find myself having a hard time swallowing the immaturity of the boys so when they give us more Tono and the grown-ups, I'm eternally grateful for that.The development regarding Anzai was a good move because frankly, I couldn;t bear another episode wondering what crime he committed in the past that led the police scurrying around like hounds for him.

Rating: 8/10

Hi wa Mata Noboru [ep 5]

Sighh...what has become of the lot? Are these the kind of policemen we want out on the streets? Are they reliable to save people when they can't even think straight? Sure their brotherhood bond, you might call it, seems to grow stronger by the day that even Tono can't come through. But pointless by the end of the day? We don't want meaningless bond among these men, we want good analytical and rational thinking!

The episode features the boys going for a one night two days mountain training. Why? No idea, really. To prepare them for any emergency rescues, perhaps? And out of a sudden, why is Miyata so energetic and quick to response now? It kinda seems really out of place for him to be very responsive after the events in last week's episode. To say the least, it's unnatural.

Tono on the other hand, maybe a flawless cop, but he's not a flawless human being. He's still my favorite character and nothing much can taint him atm, as I see it. Yes, he may be a stubborn rock, especially in this episode when he refused to grant the Leader's request for a special leave to rush to the hospital to care for his wife in labor. He himself has the same issue too, when his wife is finally found, but Anzai still loose, on the run. Tono insists to stay with his duty rather than meet his wife, whom he leaves voice mails, without fail every single day!

The scene whereby one of the guys slipped while crossing the river was hard to watch. One guy slipped, and the next thing you know, you see another 4, not ONE, but FOUR GUYS letting go off the rope, ignoring Tono's orders, and swam towards the guy, trying in vain to help him from drowning. Even the serious genius tried to help, that was shocking! He's supposed to be this calm and composed fella who never does silly things, but looks like he's been infected by the rest of them.

The number one rule in rescue is to save as much lives as you can. So watching FOUR GUYS flailing in the water trying to get another guy, was an eye sore for me. These are grown up guys, not some kids. Common sense, much?

I shall convince myself that Miyata's just having hormone imbalance today...

What is the deal with Tono's wife and Anzai anyway? It's been 5 episodes and they're still dragging this...are they gonna do this till the end, the 11th episode until they tell us curious viewers just WHAT exactly did Anzai do wrong? What's his crime and how does Tono's wife get involved with the mess? And Tono's wife only has like 5 lines up until now?! Doesn't she speak at all? Both characters for me, are the most underused and underdeveloped in the season.

there's something very wrong with the plot here

Ughhh...I have lost confidence in these guys. Why pick flowers, fully knowing that the flower's spot is at a STEEP HILL? I was thinking that the Leader would've at least some common sense left in him, in the midst of a bunch of irrational guys, but this is just absurd. It's obviously a lousy excuse to use in order to make the rescue of the day as part of the training. They did this in the previous episodes, using real cases to train the guys, but it's getting a bit overused.

Tono saved the episode for me. He's the only one worth watching. Think I've ranted enough. 

Rating: 5.5/10 - for overused plot and watching these young guys doing ridiculous decisions, not once but twice. Heck, they let a 40 year old man beat them in carrying their comrade down the hill?!

Final remarks: I'm watching this solely for Tono in future episodes. Not even Miura Haruma's so called 'heroic save' can redeem his earlier actions in this episode.

P.S. I'm not having pms while watching this.

Hi wa Mata Noboru [ep 4]

The guys had a swimming lesson during the opening...and there you can see for yourself their bare bodies xD Anyways, the episode centered around taking evidence to prove either someone's innocence or guilt. It all began when a magazine was found at the lounge left by one of the students.

Tono then taught them about forensic science and a bit of the method of taking fingerprints etc...A case happened where one of the male students entered the female dorm compound and these two were suspected. Miyata, in order to prove his innocence, took up the challenge to find out the culprit. He then tried to retrieve fingerprints from the towel left by the culprit.

Ok, anybody should know that you can't get fingerprints from a towel or clothing material. I was lmao when I saw him try to retrieve it from the towel.

With the help from Mr. Genius, he managed to get the footprint though and matched it with one of the guys' shoes. However, after hearing the guy's side of the story, Miyata decided to take the blame himself in order to save him. 

This is where I really can't stand Miyata. He's kind-hearted, ok I get it, but how much disgrace would it be for the guy even if he fess it up? The guy's excuse was kinda lame, imo. He failed this exam, which probably was a really huge thing back when he was in Todai or Tokyo University, while all of his other friends passed. He then decided to join the police force. Still, that doesn't justify him not confessing his doings. What's the difference of not being disgraced further than not having enough courage to even fess up? 

Of course, Tono saw it through and forced Miyata to say who did it. Meanwhile, it seemed like they were getting close to catching Tono's wife and the colleague who eloped with her. I'm still clueless as to what they did till they have to elope and why the police is looking for them. Hopefully, they'll explain soon enough.

Thoughts:

The show's quite entertaining, seeing a bunch of guys sweat it out at the dorm...and stuffs...and finally, Miura Haruma is an eye-candy here xD Tono is also a good character, so with these two factors, I shall continue watching. In fact, I thought I'm going to give up during the 1st episode or 2nd, but it turned out to be quite nice. Instead of dropping this, I think most possibly, Hanawake is the one I'll stop watching soon.

Rating for the episode: 8/10

Hi wa Mata Noboru [ep 3]

This week's episode...finally the recruits are getting shooting lessons.

Ever imagined police shooting with their shoes before? 

Bring on the REAL thing !!!~

So basically, these guys were taught on how to shoot, how to hold a gun, and the purpose of having a gun by their side.

As usual, this antagonist kept on making their lives miserable whenever he blurted constant sarcastic remarks to the boys. We learned the reason why *this guy above* hated it when people take guns lightly. His father, a policeman was killed on sight by a gangster.


When a shell case went missing, the guys were ordered to investigate the matter among themselves and find the culprit out. The culprit was a surprise though...


Do we see sparks flying between these two?

Thoughts:
I think police academy has their own charms as we see they go through different levels of trainings and I still very much like Tono a lot in this. There are only two characters who share the same thing that I get turned off whenever they open their mouths though.


Their voices are really annoying to listen to...no offence but I hope the guy's voice cracks soon enough. The woman's voice is really hoarse too. Whenever they start speaking, I just feel like turning down the volume. So you can imagine  how I cringe every time they speak.
Rating: 7/10

Hi wa Mata Noboru [ep1 +2]

Coming out pretty late this season, I was hesitant to follow but seeing how the first episode rating was considerably high, at 13.5%, it's worth giving it a try, I thought.

So here goes. Basically it's a police academy drama. The first kind I've watched as much as Japanese dramas are concerned. I saw something similar before but that's Hong Kong drama,On The First Beat. But anyways, the only reason I watch this is Miura Haruma, really. Basically coz he's the only one that stood out for me, there were several casts I know but he's definitely the only one.

From first ep, Tono (Sato Koichi) a detective was asked to train a group of police students. He was a long time serving detective but because of his sudden separation with his wife (who eloped with a younger man), he wanted to resign, instead, he was put in charge of a group in the police academy. He had a hard-boiled character, strict and forced the students, including Miyata Eiji (Miura Haruma), to undergo strenuous training, which included a 100km run each day.

Eiji entered only because he couldn't find a job outside so there was once he escaped the academy to meet up with his girlfriend. And then, he got caught up with a dejected man who held him and several others as hostages at this cd/video store. With Tono's help, they managed to cool him down and arrested him. The situation caused Eiji to finally see some light in the profession, but later that night, his hopes were dampened almost as quickly as it began by Tono, who challenged their determination and constantly spit them with discouraging words.

Moving on to episode 2, their training continued. Before that, let me just show some of the characters. If you've watched Taiyou to Umi no Kyoshitsu, you'd recognize this guy below, Tomiura Satoshi. The moment I saw him and listened to his voice in here, I knew I'd seen him somewhere. So I cracked my mind and finally, I found his identity. Why would I even care so much to find out, you ask? Well, for one, his voice is really recognizable, it's out of the world! It's like a girl's basically and initially I couldn't recognize him because he has a haircut in this drama. I prefer his longer style though, but since this is a police academy drama, they had to trim it. Anyways, he's just so conspicuous! I kinda still cringe whenever I hear him speak, because of his voice basically. His character here is also predictable. He's a weakling in the squad.

Another character is Yuhara Shuta (above) who is you know, the one that always carry a serious face, no nonsense/crap guy in every drama or classroom or academy. The character is really cliche basically. Actually ALL of them are! But I'm not gonna complain much about it since that's to be expected in dramas nowadays.

And finally, Miura Haruma!

His hair has been cut shorter as compared to his previous drama, Taisetsu no Koto. In episode 2, he tried to sneak out twice, first of which was to eat a famous shop's ramen after the exhausting training with several mates. They got caught by Tono himself who was eating at the same place. Talk about coincidence. They were forgiven. Second time, he wrote a withdrawal letter and sneaked out to meet his girlfriend, who later on, revealed that she'd lied to him about her pregnancy on the phone. Yuhara kept the letter of withdrawal and gave it to Tono because he didn't want Eiji to quit just yet. He wanted to have a competition with him in the future. Tono pleaded to the Chief to excuse Eiji. So, Eiji was saved, basically.


Some shots from the drama.

Thoughts:
Though the characters are cliche and almost predictable, I like Tono a lot. He's the typical strict teacher, but also gauche. His marriage is a failure and his students disliked him for his methods of teachings, however, he did prove that he's capable of giving them the lessons they'll need when they work soon. At the end of episode 2, he stated that he shall not let anyone from his class quit, which made the students happy and relieved. I see more harsh days ahead though.

Tono has never-ending love for his wife even when she ran away! At the end of every episode, we see him leaving her messages, telling about his experiences as a new academy teacher. Initially I thought I'd just care about Miura's character, but Tono is surpassing him in a mile! Eiji is not exactly a likeable character yet, maybe because of that I'm leaning towards Tono atm. Sato Koichi is definitely a good actor. He shines throughout the show, even if there are just 2 episodes.

Rating:
I've never given any ratings before this, maybe I should, just to give you a rough idea of what I thought after watching, mostly, each episode.This is from personal evaluation so it might not even be the same for others.
All things considered, I'm giving this a 7/10 for now. That said, I'll continue this drama. xD